Wise Women (and Cunning Men)
The “lowest” type of magic-user is the wise-woman (called the völva in pagan areas). This is, stereotypically, the classic old peasant crone who brews herbal potions and can use the evil eye. They can, however, be male (males are called cunning-men in English). They can also be young — they are simply stereotyped as old because of the length of time it takes most people to learn magical power. Wise-women are of peasant stock, and are often sedentary (i.e., they stay in one village). Their magic is mostly focused on the spells needed in rural society — curing, finding lost things, predicting the weather, etc. They use herbalism extensively. Wise-women are not academics — they do not study the underlying truths of magic. In their craft, it is more important to know how to cast a spell than why the spell works.